Growing Things: Dwarf vegetables offer big returns in small spaces

Last month I read with great interest your column on growing your own vegetables. In February, we moved into an older house in the river flats. The yard is pretty tiny but there is enough room for us to have a small garden. We are new to gardening but have been faithful readers, and have been keeping notes on dwarf vegetables for the last few years. We would like to grow a whole range of vegetables, but we really are pretty limited when it comes to space.

Q: Last month I read with great interest your column on growing your own vegetables. In February, we moved into an older house in the river flats. The yard is pretty tiny but there is enough room for us to have a small garden. We are new to gardening but have been faithful readers, and have been keeping notes on dwarf vegetables for the last few years. We would like to grow a whole range of vegetables, but we really are pretty limited when it comes to space.

Can you please give us a few varieties to try? The vegetables we are interested in trying to grow are beans, corn, peas, kale and cucumbers. We have already started our tomatoes, which we plan on growing in pots next to the vegetable garden.

A: From what I am seeing and hearing the return to growing your own vegetables is no longer just a trend, it is a return to our heritage. The pioneers who settled in our country grew their own produce out of necessity, but I also believe they did because it is in our makeup to grow our own vegetables.

When people began moving to the city the economic landscape changed. We had less time to do things for ourselves because of our jobs, and tending a garden seemed to lose importance. Today, with the cost of produce rising and focusing more on our health, it is just a natural progression to once again find our way back to growing our own tasty and healthy garden produce.

One major obstacle in this progression has been space. Our gardening space has been shrinking over the years. Today many of us live in townhomes or condos, or have small yards with our single-family homes. This resulted in a need for smaller vegetable plants, and the breeders have answered that call. As you might be able to tell, I am passionate about this ‘grow your own’ phenomena because I think we can be healthier because of it. Gardeners everywhere are also discovering that the taste of produce you grow yourself is far superior to anything you can buy in the supermarket.

Here are a few ideas for dwarf vegetables that you might want to grow:

Beans

–Dwarf Bean ‘Speedy’ – This French bean grows to only 18 inches in height with a 12-inch spread, and yet produces six-inch long pods from July on. It is a good idea to make several sowings from May through July for regular pickings right up till frost. It is also one of the quickest producers.

Corn

–Earlivee – This sweet corn is ideal for smaller spaces, as it only grows to four feet tall and has yields 10 days to two weeks sooner than other varieties. The cobs are eight inches long and full of flavour.

Peas

–Olympia – This shelling pea produces large pods four to five inches long. The plants grow 16 to 18 inches tall and produce heavy yields. The peas themselves are excellent in flavour and hold their tenderness well after picking. The bonus is that the plants are resistant to powdery mildew.

–Sugar Ann – This sugar snap pea grows early and produces very sweet peas on compact plants that grow to only two feet tall. The plants produce two in tasty pods and are resistant to powdery mildew. This is a former AAS winner in 1974. You can even grow these in containers.

Kale

– Dwarf Green Curled – As with all kales, these plants are very hardy and not fussy about soil conditions. They grow to 16 inches tall and 18 inches wide. Kale is the oldest form of cabbage and is higher in protein, vitamin and mineral content than most vegetables.

Cucumbers

–Bush Slicer – This is a slicing cucumber that produces cukes in record time. The plants are disease-resistant and form low compact mounds. The cucumbers themselves are six to eight inches long and have smooth, tender skin with sweet, crisp flesh. These cucumbers are perfect for small space gardens or containers.

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